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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

More Cows Than People

January 2006 figures illustrate that Nebraska continues to have far more cattle than people. Cattle outnumber Nebraskans nearly 4 to 1. Cows number 1.93 million, versus Nebraska residents who number just 1.7 million.

This time of year in the Platte River Valley, cattle will most often be seen on the corn fields, eating up the stalks and waste corn before the geese, Sandhill cranes and other migratory birds move in. And no, cattle don't usually line up in parade formation. These have just been "caked" so they're lining up to eat their fill.

And cattle aren't completely dumb, either. On a cold blustery day, these yearlings were taking shelter from the wind in a dry irrigation ditch.

The cows have been dropping their calves for nearly a month now, but it is amazingly hard to get a good picture of a group of black cows and calves. It all turns out to look like just one black blob. So, until I can find some cute red-white-faced mamas and babies, these will have to do.

The beef people have some more interesting facts about the Nebraska Cattle Industry:

The importance of cattle feeding to Nebraska’s economy runs deeper than in other states. Nearly 5 million head are finished and marketed in Nebraska, a state with a population of 1.7 million residents. Texas markets a third more cattle than Nebraska, but it has a population of 20.1 million residents is nearly 12 times larger. Iowa markets less than 2 million cattle and has 1.1 million more residents than Nebraska. This means such states depend on other industries. Their standard of living isn’t nearly as dependent on cattle feeding as Nebraska’s.

Nebraska has a unique mix of natural resources. Cattle turn grass from 24 million acres of rangeland and pasture, more than one half of Nebraska’s land mass, into protein and many other products for humans. The land grazed by cattle allows more people to be fed than would otherwise be possible. More than one billion bushels of corn are produced here each year, 40% of which is fed to livestock in the state. Cattle producing families, who make their living from the land, have a strong incentive to protect their animals and the environment.

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About Me

My personal motto is to help people have fun! I love living in Nebraska and think it is a whole "undiscovered country" for most Americans and international visitors. I showcase the wonderful things about living here, and gently chide those who need it! I'll also weigh in on a wide variety of issues such as entrepreneurship, craft beer, Deadliest Catch, live music, historic preservation and very infrequently, current events.